According to a conventional practice of changing a worn veneer peeling knife of a veneer lathe with a new reground one, firstly the knife carriage of the lathe is moved to any position suitable for the knife changing operation and the old knife is released from its clamps. Then, the knife is lifted off the carriage obliquely upward by using any power equipment such as crane and brought to any position outside the lathe. Alternatively, if the released knife is light enough in weight to handle manually, it may be removed by hand from the knife carriage and placed in front thereof temporarily until it is transferred out of the lathe by means of any power equipment. Then, a new knife is transported to the knife carriage and set in place in the knife carriage by using the steps of procedure reverse to the above knife removing.
According to this conventional knife changing method, it is necessary for workmen or maintenance personnel to enter into the veneer lathe regardless of whether the knife is to be changed manually or by using any lifting equipment. However, the top surface of the lathe bed where the workmen do their necessary job is usually messed with wood chips and pieces and other foreign matter which hinder the knife changing operation by the workmen. Furthermore, because there is peripheral equipment such as a log charger, log centering device, etc. adjacent the knife carriage, the freedom of working in the veneer lathe is restricted, so that working efficiency is affected.